


Burned Cookies

by thatwriterlady



Series: 25 Days of the Holiday Season [20]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Adorable, Castiel Can't Bake, Castiel and Dean are Parents, Children, Christmas Fluff, Christmas Presents, Happy Family, M/M, Surprises, burned cookies, so cute
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-20
Updated: 2020-12-20
Packaged: 2021-03-11 01:01:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,342
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28296462
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thatwriterlady/pseuds/thatwriterlady
Summary: When their kids asked to make their father cookies for Christmas as a surprise, Cas is reluctant to do it. He is the worst baker in the world and has come close to burning the house down more than once with his horrible baking. But the kids are insistent, and as predicted, the cookies are charred beyond recognition. They don't want to give up though, so they find a different recipe and give it another shot. Maybe this time they'll get it right. It would be a Christmas miracle!
Relationships: Castiel/Dean Winchester
Series: 25 Days of the Holiday Season [20]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2037259
Comments: 7
Kudos: 66





	Burned Cookies

**Author's Note:**

> Ha ha ha, I've written three today, and I'm about to start a fourth, once I think of an idea!

**Dec 20th:**

**_Burned Cookies~_ **

Cas coughed hard, his eyes stinging as he reached for the switch that would turn on the vent over the stove. He could barely see through all the smoke but he managed to find it.

“Papa,” Jack was coughing even harder. “I can’t see, there’s too much smoke! My eyes are burning!”

“Here,” Cas grabbed a dish towel and after wetting it and ringing it out, he began wiping at his son’s eyes. The boy was still coughing but it was lessening every minute that the vent was sucking the smoke out. On the other side of Jack was his daughter, Emma. She was coughing too but she’d been wise and covered her mouth and nose with her shirt. Her eyes were tearing up bad though. He flipped the wet towel inside out and began wiping at her eyes and face.

“We burned the cookies,” She said, stating the obvious. “We need cookies for Daddy’s surprise! What are we going to do? The stores are closed, it’s Christmas Eve.”

Cas looked at the tray with the black lumps in the vague shapes of snowmen and angels. That was an epic fail. He wasn’t entirely sure the pan could be salvaged either. This was his first (and last) attempt at sugar cookies. It really should have been his last attempt at cookies, period. He sighed and used the towel to wipe at his own eyes and face. There were black smudges on it and he wasn’t sure that would come out, even with OxyClean or bleach. 

“Is Daddy going to be mad?” Jack asked. At only six he was so damn precious. He was the one that picked out the sugar cookies, mostly so he could use the cookie cutters. At eight, Emma was just as enthusiastic, but perhaps a bit wiser. This was supposed to be a surprise from the kids but he should have known better. Dean was the baker in the family, he couldn’t bake to save his life. 

“No, I don’t think so,” Cas looked around the kitchen. He just knew the entire house smelled of his failure. His husband, Dean had already made pies for their family dinner the following night but the kids had wanted to do something special to surprise their father with for Christmas. Dean loved cookies, just about any kind, but as Cas looked around at the mess they’d made and tried not to cry, he realized they just should have bought some from his brother’s bakery. The thing was, he knew Dean would like the cookies even more if the kids had made them, and that’s why he’d made this attempt. With a sigh he grabbed the spatula and started to push at the cookies. That’s when he remembered he’d put them on parchment paper, not straight onto the sheet. Yes! The tray was saved! He lifted up the paper, folded it in half and dumped it in the garbage. 

“Can we try again?” Emma asked.

“I don’t know,” Cas frowned. “I’m not a good baker. We might just burn them again.”

Emma pulled the recipe up again on the iPad they were using to look through all of the different types of cookies they could make. She shook her head and started searching for something different.

“How about these? Snickerdoodles? Turn the oven temperature down, Papa, to 375.”

He looked at the digital oven screen and immediately knew what he’d done wrong. Jesus, the thing was set to 450! He lowered it to 375 and went to see what recipe she was looking at.

“These are soft snickerdoodles. They sound real good, and we don’t have to chill the dough. They might be done by the time Daddy gets home from work.”

  
  


Dean was a mechanic and was trying to get the last of the cars they were working on finished so people could get on the road for Christmas. He was working a full day so he’d close the shop at five. He’d be home within a half hour after that. Cas checked his watch. It was almost two-thirty. They might be able to make them in time. He read the ingredients and was pleased to find that there was cream of tartar in the cabinet. Everything else was already sitting on the island.

“Alright, I suppose we’ll give these a try. If we fail, we’re not trying again.”

“Yay!” Both kids cheered. Cas got out clean bowls in which to mix the ingredients and they got started. He supervised them as he measured each ingredient out. They were careful as they added them to the correct bowls and he was surprised at the caution Jack put in to adding the vanilla. It didn’t splash at all.

He helped Emma first to use the hand blender, but when Jack started whining that he wanted a turn, he helped him to use it too. One thing he was ever so grateful for was that the kids got along so well. They rarely ever fought and even now they were willingly helping one another. After rolling the dough into an even number of balls he measured out the sugar and cinnamon mixture into two bowls, so the kids could roll the cookies in in it and get them onto the fresh parchment paper he put on the tray. While they did that, he got started on the dishes. Everything was rinsed and put in the dishwasher and when the kids were finished he double checked to make sure the cookies were far enough apart so they wouldn’t stick. From there he put the tray in the over, set the timer, and sent up a prayer that this time it would work. For once he wanted to make cookies that weren’t missing ingredients, didn’t chip a tooth (he still felt bad about his sister cracking a tooth on a coconut cookie a few years back), or overall just didn’t taste like crap. 

This time the kids cleaned up. They dumped what was left of the cinnamon and sugar, rinsed all the bowls (after they licked the mixer blades so clean they almost looked good enough to put back in the cabinet), and added all of that to the dishwasher. Emma knew where everything went so while her brother handed her bowl after bowl, and then the spoons, measuring cups, and the blades, she put everything where it belonged and added a soap pod before starting the machine. Cas stood and stared at the oven. He refused to let another batch of cookies burn.

When the timer dinged he yanked the oven door open, perhaps with a little more force than was necessary and took the tray out. He’d waited the entire time with his oven mitts on and once the tray was deposited on the stove top, he turned the oven off and hung his gloves up. The kids came up on either side of him to see how the cookies looked.

“They look good.” Emma commented.

“Are they gonna be soft?” Jack asked.

“They’re supposed to be,” Cas replied. “Let’s hope they are. If they’re not, you can dip them in some almond milk to soften them.”

“ _ Chocolate _ almond milk?” Jack was looking up at him with the same blue eyes he had. He chuckled and ruffled the boy’s hair. He was absolutely adorable.

“I’ll think about it.”

“Can we taste one? Maybe share a cookie to see if they’re good? I really hope they are, I want Daddy to be surprised.” Emma looked up at him with eyes almost the same shade as Dean’s. She grew more and more beautiful with every passing day.

“Oh he’ll be surprised,” Cas snorted. One way or the other Dean was going to be. “But sure, we’ll split a cookie.” He fetched a clean spatula and was pleasantly surprised when the cookie lifted up easily. It was still hot so he got down a small plate and put it on it, then grabbed a butter knife. After splitting the cookie into three parts they all took a piece.

“Oh,  _ wow _ !” He groaned around his mouthful. “This is amazing!”

“It’s good!” Jack jumped up and down excitedly. “We did good!”

“We sure did, kiddo, Daddy’s going to love these.” Cas was excited too.  _ Finally _ he’d made an edible cookie!

“I can’t wait for Daddy to try them!” Emma exclaimed.

“Me too,” Her father agreed. He checked his watch. It was almost four. “How about you go get your presents for Dad and put them under the tree.” That was something they could focus on while he got the cookies moved to a parchment paper lined cookie tin. He’d told the kids they could give this present to their father tonight, since he was no doubt going to question the smell of cinnamon in the air, but he’d still wanted the present to look nice. He’d bought the metal cookie tin and after sanding off the original design he’d carefully painted it. All around the tin was a beautiful Christmas scene of children playing in the snow, and there were pine trees and dogs jumping in the air. He’d put a lot of detail into it. On the lid he’d painted their family. With a pine wreath around them, and a red bow at the bottom. As a hyperrealism artist, this looked like an actual photograph. He just knew Dean was going to love it.

@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@

At ten past five Dean came walking through the front door. He froze, his nose wrinkling as a look of confusion came over his face. He could smell the cinnamon, sure, but there was still the scent of burned cookies permeating the air.

“Cas?” He called out as he slid his coat off and hung it in the front hall closet. Cas came out of the kitchen with a big smile on his face and met him halfway. He planted a kiss on his husband’s lips.

“Hi, honey, how was work?”

“Got the last three cars finished. Thank God I got the carburetor from Bobby’s last night, otherwise I’d have never gotten the Cadillac out. What, uh, is that smell?”

“Well, I apologize for the burning smell. It was much worse earlier but I put on the fan over the stove  _ and _ the bathroom fan, just in case it helped to pull the smell out.”

“What’s the cinnamon smell?” Dean asked.

“ _ That _ is your present from the kids.” Cas replied cheerily. Dean looked warily in the direction of the kitchen.

“Cas, babe, were you baking again?”

Cas pursed his lips, mildly annoyed at his husband’s tone, but after nearly burning the house down twice in his attempts at baking, Dean’s worry was completely justified.

“Yes, but it came out right! I made something the right way!”

“Really?” A smile came across Dean’s face. “It didn’t burn?”

“No! It’s perfect! The kids worked hard on it too, so act as excited as possible. I think you will be anyway, because it’s so perfect. Just ignore the burning smell, it’s almost gone anyway. That was our first attempt, and it was an epic failure. Our second attempt was not though. The kids are super excited about this.”

“Well I’m excited to get my surprise. If it has cinnamon then it must be delicious,” Dean kissed him and when Cas took his hand he followed him.

Cas paused at the stairs to call up to the kids who were playing in their rooms and a few seconds later the sound of feet pounding down them could be heard. He and Dean were already in the kitchen by that point. Dean looked around but didn’t see any signs that his family had been baking.

“Dad! Dad! We made you something!” Emma exclaimed as she raced into the room. Her brother was right on her heels. 

“It’s cookies, Daddy! They’re yummy!” Jack cried. They were both bouncing up at down in front of him. He laughed, delighted with their excitement.

“You did? Well, cinnamon cookies sound delicious.”

“They’re snickerdoodles, Daddy!” Jack went to Cas and tugged at his hand. “Papa, where are the cookies?”

Cas smiled and went to the microwave. He took out the tin and handed it to his husband. Dean gasped and stared at it.

“Babe,” He was fighting back the tears that wanted to spill. “You did this? It’s amazing!”

“I did. I knew you’d love it. The kids’ gift is inside.”

Dean sniffled and wiped at one eye before prying the lid off. His smile grew wider when he looked at the fluffy cookies inside.

“Surprise, Daddy!” Jack squealed and clapped his hands.

“Merry Christmas, Daddy!” Emma had her hands clasped together as she looked up at him expectantly. “Eat one!”

Dean laughed and nodded. “Ok, princess,” He took one out, not even hesitating before biting into it. He groaned as he chewed the cookie and after swallowing it he kissed each kid on the top of their head. “These really are yummy, thanks guys. I think this is the best Christmas present I’ve ever gotten. I’m going to take pictures to send to Grandma and Uncle Sam.”

“Can we make more? For Grandma?” Jack asked.

“Not tonight,” Cas laughed. “Papa is exhausted. “Maybe after Christmas.”

“Ok,” Jack agreed.

“Thank you,” Dean kissed his husband again. “I know the effort you put into both painting this tin  _ and _ in making the cookies. I really think this is the best gift I’ve ever gotten.” He set the tin on the island and as he shared the cookies with his family they talked about Santa’s visit later that night. Cas leaned his head on his husband’s shoulder as he munched on his cookie. So soft and cinnamony. They really were perfect. Hopefully he could recreate this recipe again. If not, at least his husband got to taste his one baking success, and for Christmas, nonetheless. Despite the burning smell that lingered in the air, especially here in the kitchen, this was turning out to be the most perfect Christmas after all.


End file.
